A brassiere is an undergarment for supporting and covering the breasts of a woman. A conventional brassiere is known to hold a women's breasts, as compared with supporting a women's breasts. This distinction is most important in woman who have breast augmentation which has become a universal way of enhancing a women's appearance. Unfortunately, a woman who has undergone breast augmentation typically employs a conventional brassiere which can lead to discomfort or pain. For purposes of simplicity, the improvements disclosed will be directed for use with a woman who has undergone breast augmentation as she is most likely to immediately understand the lack of support. However, this invention is applicable for use by any woman who can benefit from a brassiere capable of actually supporting the breasts.
Breast implants are manufactured in a range of sizes that allows a woman to determine the size that best suits her appearance, needs, and expectations. Breast implant surgery is applicable for a variety of reasons including: correcting the size, form, and feel of a breast in post-mastectomy reconstruction; correcting congenital defects and deformities of the chest wall; and for aesthetic breast augmentation. Breast augmentation can be used to address psychological distress in woman who are concerned about their appearance and self-image. Breast augmentation can create a physiological sense of fulfillment and security in the woman's body that would have been difficult to obtain otherwise, even with the use of a push-up brassiere or breast pads. No matter what size implant is chosen, the woman will not only experience instant aesthetic enhancement but will also experience a new awareness due to the weight and positioning of the implant. This is especially noticeable directly after the enhancement. The weight of the implant is dependent upon the size of the implant and its positioning may vary from quite close to a wider proximity to the other breast. Determining factors include shape of the existing breast, physical build of the recipient, and the recipient's personal preference.
A brassiere consists of two cups for breasts, a center panel, a band running around the torso under the breasts, and shoulder straps (some brassieres are strapless). Brassieres are typically constructed of a fabric such as cotton, polyester, or the like. The brassiere is usually fastened with a hook fastener on the band or between the cups. Still others are pulled on over the head and have no fasteners. Women can also wear brassieres to improve the shape of their breasts and to enlarge the perceived breast size. Further, proper brassiere sizing helps to restrain breast movement during an activity. Most commonly, brassieres are designed to simply restrain the breasts from movement.
Brassieres which contain padding are designed to increase comfort and to create the illusion of a larger breast size. One example is the pushup bra, where padding is added at the bottom of each breast cup in order to fill the bottom of the cup and push the breasts upward. By gathering the majority of the breast tissue towards the top of the cup, the top of the breasts can appear more round. One problem with using padding at the bottom of the brassiere to push up the breast is that the breast can overflow the cup, which fails to create a desired smooth and round effect. Another problem associated with a padded brassiere is that elevating the breasts in this manner will not necessarily position them in a way that fills the top of the cup and creates the desired round shape. This may occur as the shape created at the top of the cup will be dependent upon the individual shape of the breasts being elevated. Thus, the illusion of roundness created by the brassiere will vary depending upon the shape and size of the wearer's breast. Fortunately, a woman with breast augmentation already has a round individual shape to her breasts so the desired effect is more easily created.
The cups on most brassiere, including pushup bras, are supported by underwires made of metal which sometimes may be coated in plastic. Strapless brassieres typically rely on support provided by the band and underwire positioned under the bust. It is well known that there are a wide variety of underwire bras. The lower edge of the bra cup is lined with the semi-circular underwire. The use of an underwire bra, as opposed to a non-underwire bra, ensures that a hypermammiferous woman will receive adequate breast support. Typically, the underwire support has a semi-circular configuration with varying lengths. Most commonly two types of underwire brassiere construction exist: the first with a pair of separate underwires received in a channel formed below each cup of the brassiere; and the second with a single underwire frame with respective portions received in such channels beneath each cup and joined together at the front of the brassiere.
In the separate underwire construction, the underwire typically extends about the base of the cup with an outer leg extending substantially upwards towards the outer top of the cup, and an inner leg also extending upwards, but towards the inner top of the cup. As a result, the underwire bra is typically of a push-up type which attempts to raise the wearer's breast in a more or less vertical direction. The underwire should conform and cling to the skin of the wearer in a manner that should preclude lifting of the band of the bra which passes about the torso of the wearer, thereby ensuring that the bottom portion of the breast cannot fall between the wearer and the band. Additionally, the underwire helps support the breast within the cup, thereby relieving the strain often placed upon by the bra shoulder straps and hence the shoulders of the wearer.
Most of the existing underwires in the art are made by bending the relatively flexible metal strip into the semi-circular shape or having the semi-circular underwire constructed in advance of a comparatively stiff material. However, the planar configuration of the underwire is rarely consistent with the hemispherical shape of the cup and the bottom portion of a breast which in turn creates an underwire with inadequate support. Also, an imprint of the underwire tends to be left on the body of the user, which is not pleasing to the wearer. Should the underwire exert extreme pressure it may actually have an impact on the breast implant under the skin and very noticeable indentations and severe pain may be experienced with use of such underwire bras. Then repeated use could eventually cause implant failure. While some underwires may be relatively flexible to assume the shape imparted on by the woman's body and bra, this relative flexibility may also compromise the relative support needed beneath the breast.
While the underwires of the prior art have achieved widespread usage, certain disadvantages result from their use. These disadvantages relate to the varying degrees of stiffness encountered following construction of the underwire. The relative stiffness of conventional underwires causes discomfort and the uniformity of stiffness provides a lack of adaptability to the needs of various users. Other underwires possess a constant cross-section throughout their length and so do not provide a desired variable level of support as the weight of the breast is not evenly dispersed. Further when a desired cleavage effect (upwardly to the neckline and inwardly toward the opposite breast) is wanted, they fail to provide an essential support along a greater surface area of the breast. Other disadvantages relate to the positioning of the underwire within the band of the brassiere. A very specific disadvantage occurs when the underwire within the band does not provide sufficient support to a wearer who had breast augmentation as it does not capture and hold the breast, more specifically the implant, in a position that upwardly lifts and maintains the breast.